The Wisdom of Dreaming Big
When countries from the three regions of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, who had been engaged in unilateral ground work negotiations with the European Union for their future cooperation decided to form a united group at Georgetown in 1975 - rather than proceeding with their own separate agendas - they were proved to be blessed with great foresight.
There has been turmoil and uncertainty in the ensuing cooperation between the two blocs but it has always stayed the course against, at times, considerable odds. And the ACP, despite all differences, has remained united for over three decades through the developments of the Cold War to the present day, one that is more transparent in terms of governance, perhaps, but which has many other uncertainties. In choosing to form a united group of states they were wise in the sense that Oscar Wilde would have considered, wisdom is to have dreams so big as not to lose sight of them while pursuing them.
Lately, many close observers point to the evolution of ACP-EU cooperation and admit to their concerns about its future. Even if both sides are aware that the development of poor countries will only come about through increased trade, some persistent misunderstandings about EPAs remain to be addressed. These are the subject of a Dossier in this edition of The Courier. It was a much debated topic at the recent African Union and European Union summit. What must be restored in these negotiations are the conditions for mutual trust and dialogue, as the Chairman of the Development Council of the EU – Charles Michel - told The Courier. The need for flexibility in EPAs was also emphasised at the recent ACP-EU Parliamentary Assembly in the DRC Congo as reported in this issue.
Relations between the two blocs have already adopted a different form with EPAs. Moreover, the emphasis will now be more focused, as underlined by both the European Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs at the European Development Days (EDD) 2010 in Brussels and the High Representative of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Catherine Ashton, towards priorities such as renewable energy, agriculture and food security.
Meanwhile, other actors, primarily China, have made considerable inroads - particularly in Africa, which has altered the situation. Although a recent survey shows that EU citizens are largely supportive of the continuation of development assistance, they are more demanding in terms of considering its effectiveness, especially as the economic, financial and monetary crises strongly impact upon the larger economies and their standard of living.
A milestone in the consolidation of the EU has been passed with the establishment of the European External Action Service, the EEAS, which now shares the responsibility of managing relations with the ACP Group with the Directorate General for Development (which will be known as DEVCO – following its merger with the Commission's EuropeAid directorate general - from 1 January 2011). This represents a vertical movement in terms of the EU's development sector as a priority, a sideways shift for EPAs and a diagonal movement between traditional development partners and emerging economies. Following this internal and external realignment, one of the predictions made by observers is the eventual disappearance of the ACP Group as such, at least in terms of cooperation with the EU; but this of course is still a prediction.
Bearing this in mind, the type of influence that the Non-Aligned Movement enjoyed at the time of the Cold War, or that which the ACP has in their relations with the EU or the WTO is becoming more and more essential in order to face today’s various uncertainties, be they of global governance, finance, or climate. The question among observers is whether the changes in relations between Europe and the regions and countries of the ACP Group will eventually render it obsolete. Everything depends upon the spirit, the very one with which the ACP was created over 35 years ago with the Georgetown Agreement. It was a very big dream then. Which they probably do not lose sight of now.